Cherie at Overland Lake, "about" the halfway point on the Ruby Crest Trail, a 43-mile trail linking Lamoille Canyon to Harrison Pass in the Ruby Mountains.

Cherie with a 38.5-pound pack, ready to head into the wilderness of the Ruby Mountains near Elko, Nevada.

Anita, sporting a slight tummy bulge due to pregnancy (not cookies.)

Anita and I in our hiking skirts.

Anita were neighbors in the dorms in college. We've known each other over half our lives.

Our packs were tired. They needed a break.

The abundance of snow created wildflowers as far as the eye could see.

The benefit of hiking through flowers is this: you smell good, not stinky.

Anita lost among the wildflowers.

Cherie surrounded by flowers in the Ruby Mountains.

Anita at camp (Day 1).

Self-portrait--Cherie.

Anita filtering water by a stream. Dinner is full of carbs and calories!

Cherie waking up. Our campsite smells so good.

Anita pokes her head out of the tent, can you imagine a more beautiful camp site?

Boiling water for oatmeal.

Cherie by the Ruby Crest Trail sign.

Aspen "tree art?"

Beaver ponds in the Ruby Mountains.

Anita, who has hiked 1700-miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, is again in her element: nature.

Everywhere you look, there's another slice of beauty.

Our hiking boots.

Packing up camp.

Are you sure all this stuff fits in two packs?

The Ruby Mountain sings are more helpful than the map and GPS.

Can you find the trail through the wild flowers?

Now that's a big dandilion.

It's cookie day!

It's 90 degrees in July, but at 10,000-ft, snow still covers the Ruby Crest Trail.

Anita by Overland Lake.

The "timed" photo.

Anyone in the mood for a swim in an alpine lake?

You could say that I am walking on water.

Notice how the Ruby Crest Trail simply disappears into the snow.

Cherie and Anita making dinner.

Enjoying the Ruby Mountains.

Snow in July in Nevada? Yes!

Cherie and Anita.

Cherie climbing over a trail "obstruction."

Anita boiling water by a stream.

For a few brief random moments, Anita gets cellular service and calls her husband.

Ladies in the wilderness.

Anita enjoys the warmth of the sun.

Cherie and Anita.

Purple and yellow.

After five days of hiking in the Ruby Mountain wilderness, we saw one other pair of hikers.

Mookie (the RV) in the Ruby Mountains.

Five days and forty-miles later, we celebrate at the Pizza Barn in Elko, Nevada.

cherie writes: Ready for a little solitude and adventure, Anita and I planned a backpacking trip to the Ruby Mountains. A few days before we left I called to check “snow conditions” simply because a website advised me to. Snow in Nevada in July? To a California-girl like me, it seemed silly. But with ten peaks over 10,000-ft in the Ruby Mountain Range, snow was a certainty—even in July.

“Impassible” was the word that the Ranger used when I called. She informed me that no one had done the Ruby Crest Trail (RCT) this year since there had been an abnormal amount of snow in the Ruby Mountains this year. But we didn’t let that fact deter us.

Anita and I decided to hike “the hard way” (starting at Harrison Pass) and give the snow a few extra days to melt in the 90 degree Nevada heat. Turns out the Ranger was right—about halfway through our hike, we lost the trail beneath the snow and were forced to turn back. But although Anita and I didn’t complete the RCT, we spent five amazing days hiking in the Ruby Mountain Wilderness.